What:
Checkout a branch using just a part of it’s name. Ideal if you have branch naming convention with unique part in it (e.g. JIRA number). Or select a branch same way for other operation.
Examples:
master ➜ ✗ git br
example/one-name
example/other-name
* master
master ➜ ✗ git col one
Switched to branch 'example/one-name'
example/one-name ➜ ✗ git col other
Switched to branch 'example/other-name'
example/other-name ➜ ✗ git col name
result is ambiguous
example/one-name
* example/other-name
example/other-name ➜ ✗ git col name 1
Switched to branch 'example/one-name'
Just find branch name, no checkout:
example/one-name ➜ ✗ git fbl name
example/one-name
example/other-name
example/one-name ➜ ✗ git fbl name 2
example/other-name
Other usage (merge):
example/one-name ➜ git merge `git fbl name 2` -m"Merge message"
Updating d3768ab..e54ec45
Fast-forward (no commit created; -m option ignored)
_posts/2016-03-01-git-checkout-by-word.md | 59 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 59 insertions(+)
create mode 100644 _posts/2016-03-01-git-checkout-by-word.md
Other usage (delete):
example/one-name ➜ ✗ g col mas
M _posts/2016-02-29-git-tips-intro.md
A _posts/2016-03-01-git-checkout-by-word.md
Switched to branch 'master'
Your branch is up-to-date with 'origin/master'.
master ➜ ✗ g br -D `git fbl name 1`
Deleted branch example/one-name (was d3768ab).
master ➜ ✗ g br -D `git fbl name 1`
Deleted branch example/other-name (was e54ec45).
Why:
Checking out branches is one of the most common git routine. Normally you have to type it’s name, which is inconvenient if you have a lot of local branches, or if you follow some verbose convention.
In our team we have git-flow inspired convention, where branch name uses following schema: (prefix)/(JIRA_ticket)-human-readable-branch-name. e.g. feature/JIRA-123-my-super-cool-feature.
Typing it, even with autocompletion is a bit annoying.
Setup:
Add it to your ~/.gitconfig in [alias] section. Disclaimer this is an awfull code, I know.
[alias]
co = checkout
br = branch
col = "!f() { \
(test $# == 2) && git co $(git br | grep $1 | sed -n \"$2 p\") || ( (test $# == 1) && ( (test `git br | grep -c $1` == '1') && (git co `git br | grep $1`) || echo \"result is ambiguous\n$(git br | grep $1)\" ) || echo 'git col pattern [num]');\
}; f"
fbl = "!f() { (test $# == 2) && (git br | grep $1 | sed -n \"$2 p\" | cut -c 3-) || git br | grep $1 | cut -c 3-; }; f"
Disclaimer:
I strongly believe that you can write code for these aliases much better, I’m not a bash expert. Through I hope that this post may be a good inspiration for you! =)